Passion Week Infographic

Passion week infographicJosh Byers produced a great resource for the Passion Week. It lists chronologically all of the events recorded in the Gospels for the week from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day, along with each of the Scripture references for those events. This would be meaningful way to read your Bible this week.

You can click the image to the left to view it magnified on your screen, or you can download a PDF version by clicking here → Passion week infographic.

If you really love Josh’s work, click here to go to his site to purchase a physical print.

But whatever you do, let’s observe this Passion Week with Bible reading and prayer.

Links & Quotes

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Some great reading from this weekend.

A fragment of a manuscript was found a couple of years ago on which mention is made of Jesus’ wife. This manuscript scrap is hardly credible, and here’s a great post explaining why.

“My brethren, let me say, be ye like Christ at all times. Imitate Him in public. Most of us live in some sort of publicity; many of us are called to work before our fellow men every day. We are watched; our words are caught; our lives are examined—taken to pieces. The eagle-eyed, argus-eyed world observes everything we do; and sharp critics are upon us. Let us live the life of Christ in public. Let us take care that we exhibit our Master, and not ourselves—so that we can say, ‘It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.’” —Charles Spurgeon

More ObamaCare nonsense: The Charts Obama Doesn’t Want You To See.

Planned Parenthood is taking your tax dollars to take innocent lives. Check out these numbers.

[VIDEO] Here is why Lois Lerner should be held in contempt of Congress.

“Every story of conversion is the story of a blessed defeat.” —C.S. Lewis

Poetry Saturday—Everything On It

Too good to share just one, here are five from a collection of Shel Silverstein poems printed after his death in the book Everything On It.

MasksMasks
She had blue skin,
And so did he.
He kept it hid
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through,
Then passed right by—
And never knew.

Losing Pieces
Talked my head off
Worked my tail off
Cried my eyes out
Walked my feet off
Sang my heart out
So you see,
There’s really not much left of me.

I Didn’t
I didn’t do it
That’s a lie
I didn’t do it
No, not I
I didn’t do it
Hear me cry
I didn’t do it
Hope to die
I didn’t do it
I’m not that bad
But if I did
Would you be mad?

New Job
Just two hours workin’ in the candy store
And I don’t like candy anymore.

The Problem
Jim copied the answer from Nancy
Sue copied the answer from Jim
Tim copied the answer from Sue, and then
Anne copied the answer from him
And Fran copied Anne and Jan copied Fran
The answer kept passing along
And no one got caught, but the problem was—
Nancy had it wrong. —Shel Silverstein

 

Best Shift Ever

Best shiftI love this! But I’ve got some questions too. Watch this amazing video and then read below…

So why can’t we make people’s day every day?

We don’t have to buy them a car, but we can ask about their day … cheer them up … leave a good tip …

What can you do today to make it a special day for someone else?

Links & Quotes

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Some great reading from today.

“All of the advertising we can do will never equal the interest and participation in the things of God resulting from the gracious answers to the prayers of faith generated by the Holy Spirit.” —A.W. Tozer

“The state of the times extremely requires a fullness of the divine Spirit in ministers, and we ought to give ourselves no rest till we have obtained it. And in order to [do] this, I should think ministers, above all persons, ought to be much in secret prayer and fasting, and also much in praying and fasting one with another. It seems to me it would be becoming the circumstances of the present day, if ministers in a neighborhood would often meet together and spend days in fasting and fervent prayer among themselves, earnestly seeking for those extraordinary supplies of divine grace from heaven, that we need at this day.” —Jonathan Edwards

Why is the media not in an uproar over this?! Pakistani Girls Forced to Renounce Christianity And Marry Muslims

“There is a bond: He takes it and crosses it all out and hands it back to you, and says, ‘There is a full discharge, I have blotted it all out.’ So does the Lord deal with penitents. He has a book in which all your debts are written; but with the blood of Christ He crosses out the handwriting of ordinances which is there written against you. The bond is destroyed, and He will not demand payment for it again. The devil will sometimes insinuate to the contrary, as he did to Martin Luther. ‘Bring me the catalogue of my sins,’ said Luther; and he brought a scroll black and long. ‘Is that all?’ said Luther. ‘No,’ said the devil; and he brought yet another. ‘And now,’ said the heroic saint of God, ‘write at the foot of the scroll: “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin.”’ That is a full discharge.” —Charles Spurgeon

Funny, but instructional, from Ken Davis: Five Super Powers Of Effective Leaders!

Links & Quotes

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Some great reading from today.

“What satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” —C.S. Lewis

“Leadership requires vision, and whence will vision come except from hours spent in the presence of God in humble and fervent prayer?” —A.W. Tozer

[INFOGRAPHIC] Christ’s activities during the Passion Week.

I am proud of my heritage in the Assemblies of God, which is celebrating its centennial this year. Read the history of the fellowship’s creation here and here.

[VIDEO] Logan finds out he’s going to be a big brother.

Astronomers may have found some dark matter at the center of our galaxy. That’s cool, but if we can accept this science by faith, why can’t we accept the biblical version by faith?

Research says forgiving yourself makes you healthier physically.

“When should a Christian, then, be like Jesus Christ? Is there a time when he may strip off his regimentals—when the warrior may unbuckle his armor, and become like other men? Oh! no; at all times, and in every place let the Christian be what he professes to be.” —Charles Spurgeon

Links & Quotes

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Some great reading from today.

Why do we take a railway guide and arrange for a particular journey? … Well, one has confidence in the reliability of these official publications. As a rule we are not put to shame! Now, just as we use a railway guide we must use our Bible. We must depend on God’s Word just as we depend on man’s word, only remembering that though man may not be able to carry out his promise, God will always fulfill what He has said.” —Hudson Taylor

More archeological finds in Israel confirm the historicity of the Bible: Canaanite Fortress Discovered.

Explain to me again how this is legal (or humane!): Nurse tells grisly tale of partial-birth abortions.

The New York Post finds that tanning salons are inspected more than abortion clinics.

Medical science shows stress in the home adversely effects chromosomes in kids.

“Distractions must be conquered or they will conquer us. So let us cultivate simplicity; let us want fewer things; let us walk in the Spirit; let us fill our minds with the Word of God and our hearts with praise. In that way we can live in peace even in such a distraught world as this.” —A.W. Tozer

“If indeed the name of the eternal God is named upon us, we are secure; for, as of old, a Roman had but to say Romanus sum, I am a Roman, and he could claim the protection of all the legions of the vast empire; so everyone who is a man of God has omnipotence as his guardian, and God will sooner empty heaven of angels then leave a saint without defense. Be braver than lions for the right, for God is with you.” —Charles Spurgeon

“How one learns to be thankful for each day on which one can still do something.” —Karl Barth

Links & Quotes

Healed Healer

Healed HealerMartha has gotten a bad rap throughout history. So many people jump on her for buzzing around her home trying to make sure Jesus, His disciples, and all of the other guests were taken care of. She was attempting to be a good hostess.

But let’s read her story again carefully (see Luke 10:38-42). Notice first of all that Martha “opened her home” to Jesus. She took the responsibility for making sure Jesus felt welcomed in her home.

Next notice how Jesus addressed Martha. He said “Martha, Martha.” There are no unnecessary words in the Scripture, so His repeating her name is significant. Jesus alone speaks like this in all of the New Testament: only He repeats someone’s name to make sure He has their undivided attention—

  • Simon, Simon (Luke 22:31) when warning him that satan is after him.
  • Jerusalem, Jerusalem (Luke 13:34) to the people who could be helped by Him.
  • My God, My God (Matthew 27:46) to His Father from the Cross.
  • Saul, Saul (Acts 9:4) to the young zealot who was persecuting Christ.

Jesus was not scolding Martha, but He was trying to get her attention. Jesus told her she was “worried and upset about many things.” By contrast Mary was focused on one thing: soaking up Christ’s words. It’s hard to be hospitable when you’re doing it in your own strength. It’s hard to be a healer when you need healing yourself.

In an amazing turnaround, Jesus became the Host. He wanted Martha to see that having a relationship with Him is THE priority. Everything else flows from that.

It’s not coincidental that both hospitality and hospital come from the same root word meaning a place of healing.

  • You are HEALED when you make Christ at home in your heart. 
  • You are a HEALER when your heart makes others feel at home. 

This is the essence of being God-oriented and then people-focused. This is when YOU can be a healed healer!

Think about this: What does it mean to you to make Jesus at home in your heart? What’s stopping you from receiving His healing today? It’s only after you’ve been healed that you can bring healing to others.

Hospitality

Max LucadoSome folks have asked me to post the Max Lucado quotes on hospitality that I shared this morning.

“Something holy happens around a dinner table that will never happen in a sanctuary. In a church auditorium you see the backs of heads. Around the table you see the expressions on faces. In the auditorium one person speaks; around the table everyone has a voice. Church services are on the clock. Around the table there is time to talk. Hospitality opens the door to uncommon community.” —Max Lucado

“If we wait until everything is perfect, we’ll never issue an invitation. Remember this: what is common to you is a banquet to someone else. You think your house is small, but to the lonely heart, it is a castle. You think the living room is a mess, but to the person whose life is a mess, your house is a sanctuary. You think the meal is simple, but to those who eat alone every night, pork and beans on paper plates tastes like filet mignon.” —Max Lucado